Henna

#### Henna. Although not famous as a perfume or flavor material, the leaves and flowers of **Henna **are so abundantly available that a brief description will be given here in case its peculiar fragrance should sometime become of interest to an increasing number of perfumers. The leaves of the shrub or bush, **Lawsonia Inermis**, were used in Egyptian cosmetics probably thousands of years ago. There are still millions of women all over the world today, who dye their hair with **Henna **leaves, using various intensifying or dye-controlling additives such as mild alkali, mild acid, etc. They use water and powdered leaves made into a paste which is applied to the hair for a certain number of minutes or hours. The main suppliers of henna leaves are Sudan, Egypt, Arabia, Iran, India, Ceylon, etc., and henna is also cultivated in China, Indonesia, the West Indies ("Jamaican mignonette"), etc. The dried leaves have a very pleasant tealike, herbaceous odor. The roots and leaves are used locally for the dyeing of the palms of the hands, the toes, nails and hair of Moslem women. However, the flowers have such an attractive fragrance that an essential oil has been prepared from them on an experimental scale. The author has no personal experience with the use of a genuine (straight and authentic) henna flower oil, but he can confirm that the flowers smell extremely sweet, delicately floral and tealike, reminiscent of boronia and chioranthus spicatus oils. "No wonder!" the chemist would probably say, because he has identified beta-ionone and alpha-ionone in the essential oil from henna flowers. In India, the so-called "attars" are prepared from flowers which do not readily yield essential oils by steam distillation. From **Henna **flowers is prepared the "**Hina**" attar or "mendee attar". This product is a dark orange colored or dark brownish-yellow to reddish-brown, viscous liquid. Its odor is somewhat medicinal, phenolic or bitter, but with a tenacious leafy undertone. The odor characteristics varies from one source to another. An **Absolute **of **Henna Flowers **has also been prepared although not on a commercial scale. The literature seems to disagree about the odor of **Henna Flower Oil, **and the author of this book will refrain from using any quotations, and only verify that the flower "in natura" smells in accordance with the above description (visits to Sudan and Egypt, 1956). On account of the extremely small yield of essential oil by steam distillation of **Henna**** **flowers, it is inconceivable that this oil can become a common perfume material, even considering the abundance of the botanical material. See **Boronia**** ****Absolute**** **and **Chloranthus**** ****Spicatus**.